Dad: What do you want for Christmas, honey?Daughter: I want a dollyDad: Oh-Ho, we can't have that. People will think I'm an unenlightened parent. And we both know how important other people's opinions are. How about an air wrench instead? Gotta bust those gender roles you know!Daughter: That sucks. I want a dolly.Dad: Now don't be difficult. You know I have to be able to brag to complete strangers about what a great person I am because I got you something that broke the chains of oppressionDaughter: I WANT A DOLLY!!!Dad: C'mon now. Christmas isn't about you...

On the one hand, no, Lego doesn't need to market "girl" Legos. On the other hand, I kinda dig this workshop. Especially the robot.

There's nothing inherently wrong with "girl toys," "boy toys," and "gender neutral" toys. More to the point, I don't think they're going away anytime soon. Assuming their parents let them, kids will gravitate to what they enjoy, no matter what gender label the toy or activity is labeled with.

As a kid, I played with gender neutral blocks (e.g., Legos, Duplos, Lincoln Logs), "girl" toys like My Little Ponies and Popples, and "boy" toys TMNT action figures, and plastic dinosaurs. Never did like dolls, though. On the other hand, my brother didn't play with "girl" toys. Just not his thing, I guess. Our parents have never been overly concerned by "traditional" gender roles, and I guess they passed that on?

Um, in any case, the "girl" Legos won't prevent parents from buying the "boy" or "neutral" Legos if they want to. And if the do, either the kid or the parent is probably heading toward the pink toy aisle already. Right?

doglover:God-is-a-Taco: doglover: When I was young I always saw the "house" playsets Lego puts out with the pink house and the palm trees, and I wanted to get a few because I had all these pirate ships full of bucaneers and nothing to pillage.

rape culture

WhippingBoy: doglover: When I was young I always saw the "house" playsets Lego puts out with the pink house and the palm trees, and I wanted to get a few because I had all these pirate ships full of bucaneers and nothing to pillage.

Sigh. "Rape Culture".

Yes, quite literally rape culture. However I was like 10. Didn't know about sex yet. Just always bothered me that the pirates had chests full of gold and no explainable source for this bounty of treasure.

I used to laugh and laugh at the fat chick chasing that poor old pirate around.

brigid_fitch:Growing up, there were "girl" Legos. They were called LEGOS.

/So tired of the "shrink it and pink it" mentality.//I used to play with my brother's GI Joe dolls because they were way cooler than my Barbies. He had sled dogs. I had inflatable furniture.

My nephew became extremely upset when he was given a gi joe by his grandmother. He was always playing with his sister's barbies, so mum thought it would be a cool thing. He looked at the "boy doll", pulled off its clothes, and screamed, "BROKEN! NO TEETEES!" and threw it across the room.

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom:worlddan: randomjsa: If your daughter wants the castle or the space station, then buy it. If she wants the 'doll house' looking thing, that's fine too. So what?

Children's minds are a blank slate, they only know what they have been programmed to know by their sexist, illiterate parents who either consciously or unconsciously set them up to be victimized by patriarchy.

worlddan:randomjsa: If your daughter wants the castle or the space station, then buy it. If she wants the 'doll house' looking thing, that's fine too. So what?

Children's minds are a blank slate, they only know what they have been programmed to know by their sexist, illiterate parents who either consciously or unconsciously set them up to be victimized by patriarchy.

This.

Once upon a time, this is how Legos were marketed:

And then the mouth-breathing parents were scared that Suzy might shave all her hair, start wearing plaid and "marry" a gal named Chastity.

Also, that since the boy, Ben, was playing with Suzy, it was a sure sign that as soon as he hit puberty, he was going shave all all his (chest and leg) hair, only to get oiled up and passed around a bathhouse like a second-hand sock.

OgreMagi:brigid_fitch: Growing up, there were "girl" Legos. They were called LEGOS.

/So tired of the "shrink it and pink it" mentality.//I used to play with my brother's GI Joe dolls because they were way cooler than my Barbies. He had sled dogs. I had inflatable furniture.

My nephew became extremely upset when he was given a gi joe by his grandmother. He was always playing with his sister's barbies, so mum thought it would be a cool thing. He looked at the "boy doll", pulled off its clothes, and screamed, "BROKEN! NO TEETEES!" and threw it across the room.

Soon your nephew will be on his way to college to learn how to be a patent attorney.

I made my son a Lego table. I'm pretty proud of the design. We bought a big load of Duplo off eBay and I built the table around a large rubbermaid bin for them. There's a slot in the center with rails that holds some square or rectangular platforms that can be removed to dump Lego in or retrieve them. The plates are fastened down with really sticky putty called "museum putty" that isn't marking up the finish. Someday, the Duplo plates and inserts can be replaced with standard Lego pieces of the same overall dimensions and the table can take some legs to raise it up a bit.

Here is the table, about ready to be finished:

Here is the final product in use- The bin behind him is the brick storage and fits in the table.

You can start with the 'custom' sets at walmart but the real stuff happens with the generic wholesale bucket of legos where a kid has to decide what something will become, all on their own. That's where the magic happens; a kid's self discovery, that they may make something physical and real, from their own imagination. (Adults may or may never understand or appreciate those creations, but that's not the actual magic.)

capt.hollister:Why do girls need to play with special purple and pink Legos instead of the regular Lego sets? Are parents of girls that scared to buy regular sets?

Subby nailed it.

/so many parents are still staunchly attached to gender roles.

Still? When did this happen? By the article's own admission, old Lego sets used to be gender neutral. At what point did "parents" become "still staunchly attached to gener roles" enough to influence Lego to make an entirely new product line?

It's a bit confusing to think that parents of the 2000's are more obsessed with gender roles than parents of the 50's and 60's.

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom:Gender roles are bullshiat. Which is why if you took a boy and a girl and raised them identically, they'd end up indistinguishable as adults. Everyone, regardless of genetic makeup, is exactly the same.

brigid_fitch:Growing up, there were "girl" Legos. They were called LEGOS.

/So tired of the "shrink it and pink it" mentality.//I used to play with my brother's GI Joe dolls because they were way cooler than my Barbies. He had sled dogs. I had inflatable furniture.

I had primary color Legos and I turned out fine, too. I got a Malibu Barbie for my 6th birthday and was pretty bored with it. I left it in the front yard. The boys next door stripped her robin's egg blue suit off, dipped her in paint, and rolled her in grass clippings. I never even asked for another Barbie. I wanted Hot Wheels! I loved those. And those orange 3' sections of track were lethal weapons. Youngest of three girls. If big sis came at me, WHOOSH!

47 is the new 42:Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Gender roles are bullshiat. Which is why if you took a boy and a girl and raised them identically, they'd end up indistinguishable as adults. Everyone, regardless of genetic makeup, is exactly the same.

Bashar and Asma's Infinite Playlist:I think part of it is societal expectations, but I've also been around enough kids to know that even one year old girls love baby dolls and will go nuts "caring" for them, while the boys are off in the corner hitting shiat with fake swords.

I've got twins, a boy and a girl -- pretty much a natural experiment in nature vs. nurture, since my wife and I have always been very careful to give both children all the same opportunities, privileges, routines, etc.

Yeah -- the behavioral sex differences become apparent quite early. We noticed them even before the age of 1. Now, at the age of 2, the differences are pretty stark. The boy mostly just wants to see how far he can hurl things, preferably of the breakable variety, while the girl likes to shadow me around the house and imitate whatever I'm doing.

Anyone that thinks gender is fully reducible to socialization must not have ever met an actual human child.

WhippingBoy:OgreMagi: brigid_fitch: Growing up, there were "girl" Legos. They were called LEGOS.

/So tired of the "shrink it and pink it" mentality.//I used to play with my brother's GI Joe dolls because they were way cooler than my Barbies. He had sled dogs. I had inflatable furniture.

My nephew became extremely upset when he was given a gi joe by his grandmother. He was always playing with his sister's barbies, so mum thought it would be a cool thing. He looked at the "boy doll", pulled off its clothes, and screamed, "BROKEN! NO TEETEES!" and threw it across the room.

Soon your nephew will be on his way to college to learn how to be a patent attorney.

47 is the new 42:Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Gender roles are bullshiat. Which is why if you took a boy and a girl and raised them identically, they'd end up indistinguishable as adults. Everyone, regardless of genetic makeup, is exactly the same.

Gdalescrboz:Because they aren't girls until they decide to be, or whatever that retarded gender neutral upbringing BS argument is

Conversely, we could consider that "Toys Girls Like" and "Toys Boys Like" as a venn diaphragm, and non-pastel, non-hyper-specialized Legos fit in that crossover area perfectly comfortably for like 40 goddamn years.

So.....let me get this straight.....it's bad to associate colors with gender and to stereotype gender roles, but it's amazing to seek 'gender-neutral' toys...on the basis that colors are associated with gender roles?

47 is the new 42:Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Gender roles are bullshiat. Which is why if you took a boy and a girl and raised them identically, they'd end up indistinguishable as adults. Everyone, regardless of genetic makeup, is exactly the same.

JonZoidberg:I made my son a Lego table. I'm pretty proud of the design. We bought a big load of Duplo off eBay and I built the table around a large rubbermaid bin for them. There's a slot in the center with rails that holds some square or rectangular platforms that can be removed to dump Lego in or retrieve them. The plates are fastened down with really sticky putty called "museum putty" that isn't marking up the finish. Someday, the Duplo plates and inserts can be replaced with standard Lego pieces of the same overall dimensions and the table can take some legs to raise it up a bit.

Here is the table, about ready to be finished:[dl.dropboxusercontent.com image 850x478]

Here is the final product in use- The bin behind him is the brick storage and fits in the table.[dl.dropboxusercontent.com image 850x478]

In 10 years you won't understand and they'll be throwing things at you and proclaiming "worst dad ever" on their microscreens or whatever the hell but at the moment I feel you're the coolest dad ever.

WhippingBoy:47 is the new 42: Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Gender roles are bullshiat. Which is why if you took a boy and a girl and raised them identically, they'd end up indistinguishable as adults. Everyone, regardless of genetic makeup, is exactly the same.

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom:worlddan: randomjsa: If your daughter wants the castle or the space station, then buy it. If she wants the 'doll house' looking thing, that's fine too. So what?

Children's minds are a blank slate, they only know what they have been programmed to know by their sexist, illiterate parents who either consciously or unconsciously set them up to be victimized by patriarchy.

What's sad is I have no idea if this is satire or not

Yeah, I was about to bite and just responded to randomjsa instead. Same thought.

WhippingBoy:Dad: What do you want for Christmas, honey?Daughter: I want a dollyDad: Oh-Ho, we can't have that. People will think I'm an unenlightened parent. And we both know how important other people's opinions are. How about an air wrench instead? Gotta bust those gender roles you know!Daughter: That sucks. I want a dolly.Dad: Now don't be difficult. You know I have to be able to brag to complete strangers about what a great person I am because I got you something that broke the chains of oppressionDaughter: I WANT A DOLLY!!!Dad: C'mon now. Christmas isn't about you...

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom:WhippingBoy: Why are people so afraid that little girls might actually want to play with the "girl Lego" doctor set instead of the "boy Lego" NASCAR set?

It suggests that there may be differences between males and females. That's literally it. Never has a society been more obsessed with "diversity" in theory, yet so afraid of it in practice.

There was a study a while back where test subjects were shown pictures of 50 naked men and 50 naked women and were asked to pick out which were the men and which were the women. Out of 1000 test subjects, not a single one of them could tell which ones were the men and which ones were the women.

Cyno01:Sure its only one set, but thats one more set than either Flash or Green Lantern are in.

Give the box art a close look.

Superman is the focus of the top of the box, and the front, above the picture. More telling, in the picture itself, Wonder Woman is trapped in the grasp of Lex's mech, while Superman is flying up to save her. Wonder Woman is there not so much as a heroine, but as a damsel in distress.

Notice the title of the product as well: Superman vs. Power Armour Lex. Wonder Woman doesn't even warrant inclusion in the title.

WhippingBoy:Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: WhippingBoy: Why are people so afraid that little girls might actually want to play with the "girl Lego" doctor set instead of the "boy Lego" NASCAR set?

It suggests that there may be differences between males and females. That's literally it. Never has a society been more obsessed with "diversity" in theory, yet so afraid of it in practice.

There was a study a while back where test subjects were shown pictures of 50 naked men and 50 naked women and were asked to pick out which were the men and which were the women. Out of 1000 test subjects, not a single one of them could tell which ones were the men and which ones were the women.

From everything I've seen, girls and boys definitely tend on average, across a spectrum, to prefer somewhat different toys and colors and topics and styles of play.

But in many cases media and parents and peers enforce and reinforce these tendencies along hard lines so that some toys and play are deemed to be exclusively for girls and others exclusively for boys.

In reality there's a lot of variation and overlap in kids' natural inclinations. And for kids who aren't aligned with the average tendencies, that hardline "enforcement" can make them feel like shiat, like there's something wrong with them, especially if they're not lucky enough to have someone who will back them up.

To the extent that producing special sets caters to little girls' interests and gives them a chance to play Lego in the first place without cretins giving them shiat about it, that's awesome.

To the extent that it ghettoizes girls' Lego play and cuts them out of playing with a lot of Lego's coolest products by making those "Lego for boys" (and makes it more difficult for boys to play with certain things by pinkifying them) that's bullshiat.